Bleed it Out
by CadeXHybrid
Summary: Tricked by his dark side, Link is unwittingly sent to the bowels of the Underworld. Waking up, he is told the only way to escape the dark Hell is to defeat the Underworld's greatest champion of all time. But who? Contains bloody violence and mild cursing.
1. Cruel Wager

**Chapter 1: Cruel Wager**

When a soldier is heavily wounded in battle and can't make it back to HQ for a medic, he may choose to bleed out in order to lessen his pain. Such has never been the case for Link, until one day, he wakes up in the Underworld after a deadly bout with his dark side…

* * *

He woke up to the sound of banging on metal, making him jump up from his lying position. Link rubbed his eyes and spotted his clothes and weapons across the dark room. Instinctively, he looked down to discover he wasn't wearing anything. He leaned over to see he was lying on some kind of slab of limestone, and he looked up to see a bunch of stalactites lining the room's ceiling. The last thing he noticed was a medieval metal door near his battle gear and clothes. He was obviously in some sort of underground cave room.

"How did I get here…?" he asked himself out loud.

Seeing as how he was alone, he took the opportunity to get up and start walking over to his gear, all while wondering how he could've gotten in such a bizarre situation. Upon standing up, he noticed the intense heat of the room; it felt extremely dry. He also noticed his clothes were in excellent condition as he put them on. There weren't any rips or bloodstains from his last battle…wait, who was his last enemy again? He found it hard to recall.

Suddenly, he heard the clanging sound again and figured it came from the metal door. This time it was accompanied by shouting: "Hey, you awake in there?"

After slipping on his cap, he answered back, "Yes—where am I?"

No reply. Just the turning of a lock resounded throughout the small cave-like room. The door opened, revealing a floating, hooded creature in a maroon robe holding onto a long wooden cane that touched the floor. Under the hood, it beckoned in a low, rotten tone, "Come, Link. Your battle is nearly ready…"

"Battle?" Link repeated. The Hylian looked confused as he asked, "What battle am I to partake—?"

The floating creature did not answer him; instead, he turned and slowly floated down the torch-lit corridor. Link tightened his armored gloves before calling after the being, "Hey, wait!"

After leaving the room and catching up with the robed creature, Link strolled next to the odd fellow and asked, "Where am I?"

"The Underworld. My name is Charon."

"The Underworld?" Link repeated Charon again. "How and why am I here?"

"You don't remember? Your dark counterpart desired to trade places with you. He wanted to be real and you to be trapped in his heart's shadows."

Link gasped as the previous events began coming back to him. "Right, I remember fighting him, but…I still don't remember how I wound up here."

Charon continued, "After fighting a losing battle, he decided to use all of his dark power to send you here at the last minute. The only exit from this Hell is to face the greatest champion of all."

Reflecting on what Charon had told him, Link walked silently by his side, hearing a thump on the ground every now and then when the creature would put down his cane to glide forward. The dim corridor twisted to the right to reveal a dead end.

Suddenly, both warrior and demon morphed into a black mist, which was blown away by an invisible wind. The mist seeped through a vent on the ceiling and after a long maze, it appeared inside a small, box-shaped room; an elevator perhaps.

The mist took form of Charon and Link again. Dazed, Link asked, "What the…?

The elevator began to creak with the addition of their weight. Gears on the wall began to turn, indicating the elevator was moving downward. Charon began speaking, "Down here is where you will face the Underworld's greatest champion."

The Hylian Hero crossed his arms and asked, "Must I defeat him, or simply face him as you told me?"

"They would only tell me that your opponent will receive emancipation from this Hell if he were to beat you. I imagine the same condition goes for you, Link."

Link clenched his left fist. "That's fine by me. Who is this 'champion', anyway?"

Charon twitched a bit. "You will find out soon enough."

Gradually, the sounds of a cheering crowd began filling Link's pointy ears as the elevator continued its descent. Link looked to his left to ask Charon a question, but the demonic guide was no longer present. Link whirled around, and feelings of anxiety embraced him. Link heard the sound of chains lowering a drawbridge and immediately turned back to face the elevator's doors, which were sliding open.

Confused and scared out of his mind, Link watched as the drawbridge in front of him lowered down completely, revealing an arena surrounded by bright lava and stone bleachers. The bleachers supported many different spectators, who all appeared to be booing Link. The arena had several dead bodies and pools of blood scattered across it; a lone white-skinned bald man with a long red tattoo wrapped around his torso stood in the middle, clad in a red garment around his waist and sandals. The muscular man proudly held a magnificent, glowing blue sword as he stared Link down with battle in his eyes.

Suddenly, Link realized this man must be his opponent and quickly got into a battle-ready position. He proceeded to draw his Hylain Sheild and Master Sword, never taking his eyes off of the man in the arena.

Charon's disembodied voice whispered into Link's ear before fading away: "You must fight Kratos."

An announcer's voice for the arena's events rang, "Ladies and gentlemen, we give you—LINK!"

* * *

_Insert __**God of War**__ theme music here!_

Quick note: Charon once fought and died against Kratos in the PSP game, _Chains of Olympus__, 2008_.

Heck yeah, the next chapter will be epic indeed. The reason why I didn't put this story into the crossover section is because it would obviously give away the surprise, know what I mean? This story is the first in my Deathmatch series, and I've got plenty of ideas for other games.

By the way, I have told this story from Kratos' point of view. Careful though, it's M rated for gory violence. (Fear not: I don't have him bangin' chicks as usual.)

Normally, I'd give a short bio for Kratos here so you guys can know his significance, but I honestly don't want to spoil anything for those of you who haven't quite finished all of the _**God of War**_ games. Also, I know at least a hundred percent of you have heard of those games (especially the breath-taking, pulse-pounding, adrenaline-pumping, nerve-wracking, battle-heavy, blood-bathing _**God of War III**_!). Those are truly great games. More like bloody works of art.

If you want to read the next chapter or at least think it'll be interesting, feel free to check back in less than a week. Also, reviews and/or alerts help with that, too…


	2. Hero vs Champion

Here's the conclusion to Deathmatch #1!

**Chapter 2: Hero vs. Champion**

On the inside, Link's nerves seemed to rupture in three. The tall, lean man in the arena was most intimidating, but Link's eyes did not display his apprehension. However, Link did become a little confused when the man lowered his glowing, blue sword. He turned away from the Hylian and shouted angrily to no one in particular, "I will NOT fight some child! Bring me a real challenger!"

Link took this as offense. He thought about speaking for himself, but an announcer's booming voice beat him to it. It said basically everything Link wanted to say, "But Kratos, you underestimate your opponent. Did you forget that you will be free to go back to the world of the living if you finish this tournament? Or do you forfeit the match?"

Link mumbled with a puzzled look, "Free to go back to the world of the living…?"

The one called 'Kratos' retorted to the announcer, "I forfeit NOTHING! If this…boy…is my opponent, then I shall cut him down just as I have done to my other enemies."

_No time like the present,_ Link thought as he traveled across the drawbridge's length to reach the arena circle. He took a position a few feet in front of Kratos, just far enough to charge at him and readily holding his Master Sword and Hylian Shield. The tall man seemed to be searching deeply for any weakness in Link as he said, "Let's get this over with."

Link thought it was best to not respond, only glaring heavily like the warrior with unshakable courage he was. He heard the announcer's command, "FIGHT!"

Instinctively, the Hero of Hyrule broke off at full speed towards the Greek warrior, jumping up and left-handedly hacking down at him. Kratos blocked the strike, horizontally bringing up his magnificently illuminated blade. With a roll of the wrist, Kratos slashed to the side, but the Hylian easily deflected it with his shield.

_That was east enough, _Link thought, but he didn't anticipate the hard kick he received in the gut, knocking him backwards to the ground. Masking his pain, Link looked up to see the lean warrior leaping into the air, shining blade aimed down at the boy's chest. At first, Link planned to block this strike with his Hylian Shield, but soon realized the shock may be a bit too much to absorb, so he rolled to the side, clear out of Kratos' range. Immediately, after rolling, Link flipped back to a standing position and charged full speed at the bald man, who had his sword wedged in the arena's floor.

Link spun and slashed sideways at Kratos; the warrior had finally pulled his sword free from the floor, and blocked the strike, followed by another hack to the side. Like lightning, Kratos countered the second strike and cut diagonally at Link's chest.

Link had vaulted backwards to dodge the blue blade a second too late; he felt the heavy incision tear right through the fabric of his tunic and links of his chainmail armor. From his right hand, he dropped the shield and clutched the wound on his left pectoral, extending from his collarbone to his armpit. From the burning pain, Link groaned, "Ugh…huagh!"

As blood seeped through his fingers, the entire audience cheered with unbridled excitement. "Finally, some blood!" Link heard someone say.

As the pain began to subside, Link looked up to see Kratos in the air, aiming to swipe his blade down on him. Link quickly rolled to the side, ditching his shield. The bright blue blade narrowly missed the Hylian.

When Link stood back up to regain himself, he watched as Kratos kicked his shield away to a far off corner of the arena. Then, the tall Spartan pointed his sword at Link, as if he had already won the battle. He growled, "If you're too injured to fight, then forfeit this match!"

The Hero of Hyrule glared at Kratos. There was no way he was going to give up a match over one wound on his chest. For the first time, he decided to say something to the so-called champion, but only one word: "Never."

Kratos only grunted, "Hmph, so he speaks."

Link's only response was to ignore the pain and shift into a defensive stance, holding the Master Sword over his head and angling it downward. He noticed Kratos glaring at this.

This time, the champion charged at Link, swinging his sword sideways. Link parried this and blocked the next vertical slash. Kratos continued with three diagonal swings, all of which Link parried while taking defensive steps backward. Once the Hylian noticed Kratos' strikes didn't seem to have an end, Link figured he was trying to wear him down. _That won't work against me,_ Link thought with a smirk.

There was one problem, however; the arena's edge neared closer to Link's feet with every backward step he took. "Damn…" he mumbled inaudibly to the heat on his boots.

Link quickly got back to blocking a vertical slash from Kratos and proceeded to duck under the next the horizontal swipe. _Yes, an opening!_ Link thought as he made to impale the tall man. However, Link cursed in frustration when Kratos had adeptly vaulted backwards avoiding the blade.

It wasn't over yet; Kratos spun in place, swinging around his glowing sword, only to have it blocked by the Hylian Hero; Link and Kratos initiated a sword lock. Both warriors pushed their weapons against each other, fighting for dominance. Link soon wished he hadn't entered this lock because it was then that he realized Kratos' superhuman strength. Fighting a losing battle, he heard the Spartan say, "Not bad."

_Well, I've got one idea, left, and I won't like it, _Link thought to himself. _Then again, HE won't like it either. _

With his stronger hand feebly holding off Kratos' Olympus Blade, Link reached for the Clawshot tool on his belt with his other hand and aimed it at the champion's confused face. _Eat this._

The claw of the hook shot exploded from the canister and attached itself to Kratos' face. The Spartan discontinued his assault and howled in utter pain, "Augh!"

The crowd roared with delight as Link ran behind the howling champion and began bounding the rope of the Clawshot around Kratos' neck. As he did so, the announcer commented, "It is most unwise to underestimate Link, Kratos."

_He's got that right,_ Link thought snidely as he began tightening the Clawshot's cord. Victory for Link would be certain in a matter of time.

Suddenly, Kratos grabbed the cord from behind and hurled it over his head, along with the young warrior, too. Link's entire body slammed onto the arena floor, earning a loud cheer from the crowd.

On the ground, he lay, breathing hard from the shock of hitting the ground. On his back, he looked up to see an upside-down Kratos had already ripped the Clawshot from around his neck and thrown it aside. A rage as pure as hell flamed the Spartan's eyes as he ran and made to plant the glowing sword in Link's chest. That didn't happen, however; Link rolled over and stood up just in time witness Kratos impale the ground.

Link raised his Master Sword threateningly. However, like lightning, Kratos pulled his sword free from the ground and slashed into the Hylian's right side, spilling crimson liquid like mad.

"AAAH!" Link howled in pure anguish.

Blood saturated the chainmail and stained his green tunic. Happy to see unrestrained violence, the stadium's audience roared as loud as they could. As their cheers deafened Link's ears, he felt Kratos' foot slam into him and use the boy's abdomen as leverage to pull his sword free. Link opened an eye to see the Spartan ready to hack at him again, and he knew he wasn't going to completely avoid the blade in the state he was in. He wasn't giving up yet, however.

He managed to leap backwards, but it came with an inevitable wound across his chest. Link kneeled in agony, clutching the deep wound in his side, all while hearing the crowd chant the champion's name, "Kratos! Kratos! Kratos!"

Hearing his name, Kratos mocked the boy, "You see, child. This is what happens when you don't admit defeat. You may even learn something from all of this."

Using his Master Sword as a crutch to stand himself up, Link felt the urge to cough blood. He leaned his head over and spat the metallic liquid from his mouth. After doing so, he stood tall and glared at Kratos, holding his sword like it was any other day of battle.

Kratos grunted and said, "It looks like you won't learn anything, today, boy."

The Spartan charged at Link, who deflected an incoming vertical slash, resulting in a sword-lock to the ground. As they locked swords, Link was unexpectedly elbowed square in the nose, making him lose grip of his Master Sword. Only a split second later, he felt the shocking sensation of an uppercut landing under his jaw.

The announcer yelled excitedly, "Kratos is a soulless monster! He stops at nothing to get his wish!"

Weaponless and clutching his busted nose in pain, Link noticed his Hylian Shield only a few feet away from him. He dashed to the weapon, staggering a little on the way. After picking it up and strapping it on his arm, he got back into a fighting stance and observed Kratos replacing his Olympus Blade. He was now equipped with two lion-head gauntlets, running at full speed toward the Hylian Hero. Link did the same.

However, as soon as they met, Kratos began raining down punches from his heavy gauntlets on Link's shield; Link's legs started buckling under the intense blows. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to avoid getting crushed at this rate. He was bleeding from several locations on his body and he badly wanted to faint. But a fire burned inside him, commanding him to stay alive. A newfound strength pushed Link to thrust the shield upward into Kratos' face, ending the rampant beating he was taking.

Link heard the Spartan howl in pain, "Oh—oagh!"

Link wasn't done. He continued to viciously pound Kratos' face with the Hylian Shield, shouting, "Take this!" The sound of metal against skull drowned out whatever the announcer commented on; the rain of blows ended with Kratos being sent to the ground on his back.

Link took this opportunity to turn and sprint to the sword he had previously dropped when Kratos' elbowed him. He was only a foot away when two smaller blades connected to a chain shot at him from behind and dug themselves into either of Link's sides. More of the floor became drenched in the hero's blood as he yelled, "AAH!"

It seemed Link felt more anger than pain, because he turned around to face Kratos and screamed, "DAMN YOU!" Throughout this entire battle, Link had finally begun to stop feeling pain whatsoever because he gripped both of the blades lodged in his sides and yanked them out one at a time. He knelt down and weakly picked up his Master Sword, turning back to face Kratos again.

With his vision blurring and doing waves, Link heard the Spartan's emotionless voice speak, but it sounded as if he were speaking through a fan. "It will all be over soon enough, boy. I will show no mercy."

Link was faltering badly from severe blood loss, just seconds away from colliding with the ground, but he forced himself to stand up straight and look Kratos in the eyes. He noticed Kratos swinging his chained-blades a little too late because they sailed through the air and through his right arm, tearing up the white shirt. However, he was quick enough to block the next swing with his shield.

The next strike of the blades came from up above this time; Link threw his shield above his head to cancel the attack and immediately started charging at the Spartan, shield and sword in front of him like a one-man army.

Kratos stood patiently before rolling out of the way and propping himself back up with chain-blades in hand. Link looked back at him angrily, and dashed at him again. This time, however, Link lost all of his strength and tripped, landing face-first on the floor at Kratos' feet.

Link heard weird noises and deciphered them as more chants from the crowd. He turned on his back, feeling death creep up inside him. Above him, he saw Kratos walk closer to his dying body and stamp his foot down on Link's abdomen. The Spartan had drawn his brilliant Olympus Blade once more and aimed it down at Link's chest like a spear.

Suddenly, Link found the strength to say, "Wait…why do this…?"

Kratos' voice resonated back to Link, "For freedom, of course."

Somehow, Link found nothing but humor in what he just heard. He chuckled loudly, blood rolling down from the corners of his mouth. "So…you're a slave. Nothing more than a slave to these demons. And…" He turned and spat blood onto the arena floor. Through blood-stained teeth, Link continued, "…and I thought I was fighting a champion."

"Quiet, boy. I am a champion among champions!"

"And that's why you do these demons' bidding."

Link witnessed the angry look Kratos gave him. The so-called "champion" twitched and said, "Shut up, child."

Link knew what was coming, so he said it anyway: "Hehehe…you may have conquered me in battle, but I'll always have more freedom than you."

And with that, he blacked out into death's grip, not feeling any pain from the impalement Kratos delivered out of pure rage.

There ya have it, folks! Kratos wins by fatality, but Link will most likely have a second chance in battle since he was killed in the Underworld. If you like this Deathmatch, or the idea, stay tuned for other stories like this by _CadeXHybrid_!

Remember, the possibilities are endless…sort of.


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